Khaled al-Quzzaz, an engineer and educator, was foreign relations secretary to former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. After Morsi was deposed by the Egyptian military, al-Quazzaz was arrested. He has been imprisoned in maximum security for over a year, over half of that in solitary confinement. We asked for the Egyptian government to provide him with due process, a fair trial and access to ... Continue Reading>>
CCS Protests Lack of Due Process In
CCS Calls for Immediate Investigation of Assassination of Counsel in Blasphemy Case
After repeated threats called to the attention of Pakistani authorities, attorney and human rights advocate Rashid Rehman was assassinated on May 7, 2014. Rehman was defense counsel for Junaid Hafeez, an adjunct lecturer at the Bahuddin Zakariya University, who had been detained on blasphemy charges for over a year. CCS called for immediate investigation of the unknown assailants and further ... Continue Reading>>
His Jail in Teheran is a School,
Says Kokabee’s Poem for Family
On the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, Omid Kokabee sent his family a poem he wrote in jail. We are posting it here with the family's permission. Kokabee, a graduate student at Texas University/Austin, is in Evin prison since 2011 for allegedly "communicating with an enemy government" and "illegal earnings." CCS and many others protested his conviction as lacking due process. In his ... Continue Reading>>
2013 Annual Report
Summaries of 2013 Cases The Committee of Concerned Scientists advocated for sixteen individuals or groups during 2013 in ten countries. This reduced caseload enabled us to focus on several individual cases in which CCS had taken the lead and fostered cooperation with other human rights organizations. We were also able to cover events concerning human rights issues that were germane to our cases ... Continue Reading>>
Amnesty Calls Kokabee Prisoner of Conscience. CCS Tells Iran, Calling for His Immediate Release
Persuaded that Omid Kokabee has been jailed and convicted because of his refusal to work on military projects, Amnesty International has called for his release as a "Prisoner of Conscience." CCS renews its call for release of the Iranian graduate student at Texas University/Austin, whose espionage trial lacked due process and whose violation of human rights has been of concern to students and ... Continue Reading>>
Kemal Gürüz Released from Prison
We welcome the news that Dr. Halil Kemal Gürüz, a chemical engineer, education administrator and former professor and university rector, was allowed to go home pending his appeal from the thirteen years and eleven month sentence imposed on him by a criminal court in Turkey on August 5, 2013. In a new trial on September 5 on another charge, Dr. Gürüz was placed on probation by an Ankara court ... Continue Reading>>
CCS Protests the Beating of Activist and Physicist in Moscow
Dr. Lev Ponomarev, a prominent Russian physicist and human rights activist, was violently evicted from the offices of his organization, "For Human Rights," during a dispute over the lease. Ponomarev and five others were treated so roughly by security guards hired by the city of Moscow that they had to be treated at a first aid clinic. CCS protested the assault to Russian authorities, ... Continue Reading>>
Russian Physicist and Human Rights Activist Beaten at his Moscow Office
Russian physicist and human rights defender Lev Ponomarev was beaten up when he and his staff were violently evicted from the Moscow office of his organization For Human Rights on June 22. Dr. Ponomarev worked and published for many years in elementary particle physics at the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics in Moscow. He became involved in human rights and politics in the ... Continue Reading>>
CCS Urges Putin to Release Student Activist
CCS wrote a letter to Russian president Vladimir Putin in support of Yaroslav Belousov, a political science student who was arrested in June of 2012. His trial started recently in Moscow. According to press reports, Belusov was arrested while participating in an authorized protest demonstration. He has been in jail for a year and could be convicted of a sentence of up to 12 years. According to ... Continue Reading>>
Prof. Al-Singace Denied Family Visits and Medical Attention in Bahrain Jail
CCS has learned from Professor Abdul Jail Al-Singace's family that he has been denied medical attention and family visits while serving a life sentence in prison. Al-Singace's conviction was based on his reporting on human rights abuses in Bahrain. Dr. Al-Singace, a professor of mechanical engineering who has taught at the University of Bahrain since 1995, is also a leader of the democratic ... Continue Reading>>